Childhood memories combat heat

Unless you have been hiding out in an arctic cave, you might have lost track of how many times you have been asked this question. As for me, yes, it’s been plenty hot enough!

Hot weather allows old geezers like me to begin statements with: “Well, in my day ...’” Comments will follow about the lack of air conditioning as we know it today in homes, businesses or automobiles. It’s true: cooling technology has come a long way in a fairly short time.

Actually, “in my day” assertions also could apply to heating cars and buildings in winter. Back then, car heaters were situated under the dashboard at the feet of the front seat passengers, who paid the price of heating the car with legs toasted like marshmallows over a campfire. For all I knew, forced-air heat could have been hot air spewed by U.S. senators. Homes were heated with gas or wood stoves or coal, oil or gas furnaces.

People accustomed to controlled environments might ask how anyone could live without air conditioning. They survived by figuring out ways to stay cool. But in the summer, folks didn’t expect to stay as cool as we do today. They didn’t realize how uncomfortable they were.

Early automobile air conditioning units were clipped on under the dashboard. Cooling was uneven with very damp air. Factory-installed air conditioning is relatively new. Early window air conditioners for homes or businesses were OK but a far cry from modern central air conditioning.

Some low-tech means of staying cool on hot days included shade trees strategically placed around houses. Fans moved air through the rooms and made sleeping possible on hot nights. Screened-in porches were cool spots tailor-made for sipping iced tea.

My most vivid hot weather memories are of a summer job when I was in high school. I drove a laundry truck while the regular driver was on vacation. I delivered and picked up laundry and dry cleaning in small towns surrounding my hometown.

It was a good job because I was on my own, with no one looking over my shoulder. Besides, the little Ford van had a spirited V-8 engine that I quickly learned would flat move on down the road!

During my brief career in the laundry business, the weather was hot and dry. I don’t remember much about dealing with the heat while driving; back then, you just accepted that driving in the summer was a hot experience. As a mindless youth, I tried to drive fast enough to outrun the heat.

Two small-town stores on my stops are forever etched in my memory. One was a mom-and-pop grocery store, the other a drug store with an old-fashioned soda fountain.

Amazingly, both were delightfully cool. They were dark inside, keeping the heat outside. I was aware of no air-cooling devices, other than fans.

In the grocery store stood the biggest, coldest soda pop cooler I have ever seen. Leaving the stifling heat of the highway for the pop cooler was like arriving at an oasis in the Sahara. Sticking my hand down into the frigid water, I pulled out a glorious treasure, a 12-ounce bottle of Old Colony Grape soda – a teenage palate pleaser that’s regrettably no longer on the market. If I close my eyes and concentrate really hard, I can still taste that cold Old Colony Grape trickling down my throat.

The equally cool and darkened drug store soda fountain offered a different yet luscious memory. It was the best root beer on the planet – ice cold, as it flowed directly from the tap into a mug fresh from the freezer. As if by magic, it was transformed into a frosty feast!

I have often wondered what heaven would be like. It might be like sitting in a cool place on a hot day, sipping an ice cold Old Colony Grape or a cold root beer in a frosty mug. That works for me.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.